Loss of power and smoke from the engine bay

MacFhearguis

The drive in to work was an interesting one this morning.

The first thing I noticed was a significant loss of power during acceleration, and some stumbling at the same time. I wouldn't classify it as "bucking" as it wasnt that severe, but the power was much lower than the days prior. The power would come and goe as well...no pattern that I could determine based on speed, gear or throttle input.

I had noticed this same issue yesterday, but it went away after I had stopped for a few and the vehicle was warmed up.

When I got to the babysitter to drop the kiddo off, there was a fair amount of smoke coming out of the engine bay, appearing to originate from behind the license plate. Needless to say, the kids were out of the van rather quickly! I opened up the engine lid and peered around a bit, and could not see anything on fire, or dripping fluids. On the close inspection, it looks like the smoke was coming from between the heat shield above the muffler and the body.

Could this have been something like power steering fluid burning? I can't describe the smell, but it wasnt an ATF or oil smell, not coolant, and not wood product and not electrical smell.

On another note, the odometer stopped working too...I think I found the solution to that during a search though.

So..as far as the power loss goes, where should I start in the Bentley?

I'll clean the area around the heat shield and see what I can determine.

Thanks for the help all.

EDIT: This is on an '85 manual.

G

ajdenette · Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2011 5:08 pm Post subject:

My thought would be on the catiwould look atthe paint for bubbling sounds like the cat maybe loading up and gloing or blocking exaust and heating up.
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MacFhearguis · Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2011 5:17 pm Post subject:

I've been out of town so tomorrow I'll check the cat/body areas for debris.

Can anyone else give any thoughts on the power loss issue?

Thanks,
Gavin

MacFhearguis · Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2011 9:39 am Post subject:

So I pulled the cat today, and connected the muffler directly to the exhaust and took it for a test drive.

Nothing was on fire/smoking as in times past, but I was getting mini-backfires and puffs of smoke from the exhaust pipe and it smelled like it was running rich.

The loss of power and stumbling was still there, so once I get some more time I'll start checking various different sensors via the Bentley.

Can anyone weigh in with other ideas as to what the issue(s) might be?

THanks,
G

MacFhearguis · Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 12:57 pm Post subject:

Anyone at all care to weigh in on this?

Thanks,
G

MacFhearguis · Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 3:24 pm Post subject:

I'm back from out of town and will be troubleshooting the van soon...any specific tips on what to start with and work to?

THanks,
G

MacFhearguis · Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2011 1:00 pm Post subject:

I had a chance to do the Bentley tests...bridging pins and measuring resistance and voltages.

Some of my measurements were out of tolerance per the manual; I'd like to know what kind of variance is acceptable on these.

When grounded, the O2 sensor measure 21ohms. I take it to mean this is a bad sensor and should be replaced.

For the injectors, their resistance should be 16-6.4 ohms, mine were as follows: 1-32ohm, 2-33ohm, 3-43ohm, and 4-43ohm. This is way out of spec per the manual so what should be looked at from there?

The ground connection(7&25) measured out at 1ohm and should be zero.

I checked the plugs too, and the passenger rear plug was fouled with oil residue, but the rest of the plugs looked good. I replaced all four plugs, the air filter, rotor and cap, and wires for good measures and a clean baseline.

Out for a test drive, there was a bit of smoke during the first few minutes, but cleared up after that.

Advice is appreciated.

Thanks,
Gavin

?Waldo? · Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 9:20 am Post subject:

Was there improvement in the power/missing?

I would try cleaning the various connections with contact cleaner like De-Oxit (Arizona Music Pro sells it in town here) and re-test.

Andrew

MacFhearguis · Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 11:19 am Post subject:

Andrew,

There was a noticeable change.

The missing was gone, and the power had returned to what it had been.

I'll stop by AMP tomorrow and start the cleaning process.

I'll report back with the new tests.

MacFhearguis · Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 3:37 pm Post subject:

Did a compression test this afternoon, and the results were 85, 105, 105 & 105psi. The low comp number came from the cylinder that had an oil fouled plug when I was changing everything out.

I'll be doing a leak down test later.

Envious · Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 8:29 am Post subject:


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